Pancake Heaven

I just had the world's most delicious, shockingly healthy pancake. (~400 calories with toppings)

Into the mix went

• 1/3 cup buttermilk pancake mix
• small handful of rolled oats
• large splash of skim milk
• egg white
• cinnamon and vanilla
• one small mashed banana

It made one giant pancake which I topped with blackberry jam and a tbsp of almond butter. SO good! I actually don't really like real maple syrup and how it saturates the pancake (ew) so I used to only eat fake syrup. However, after looking at the ingredients a while back and realizing how artificial it is, I've switched to warmed up jam. Works for me!

Anyway, last night I really didn't want to go to the gym. (I have a lot of trouble convincing myself to go on Fridays so I may need to reorganize my workout schedule to accommodate that!) I had joined the YMCA here in Nashville a few weeks ago and it's so wonderful. It's way affordable and I actually like it more than NYSC in NY and I was paying three times as much there! Anyway, I didn't feel like driving out there so I convinced myself to squeeze in a short 40 minute work out at the crappy gym at my apartment complex. So I ran 1.5 miles (no pain!) and I hit all the major muscle groups with weights. I'm proud that I was able to make myself go, even for a half workout. :)

It's miserable and rainy here in Nash, but I'm at least thankful that I'm not stuck in the DC snowstorm! Stay safe and warm!

I'm back! For real!

Oh man. So I stopped blogging regularly after I hurt my IT bands, mostly because I didn't have all that much to write about regarding training. I do realize that's a bit silly and that there are other things to talk about, but I got to the point that I would avoid clicking on the bookmarked link! However, a friend of mine inspired me to get back on the proverbial blogging horse today. (Thanks :) )

Truth be told, I really do like having the space to write down whatever I feel like telling you so I'm looking forward to turning over my new blogger leaf... again. Plus, it certainly helps that my IT bands are finally starting to get better. PT was helping to make my hips much stronger, but I still couldn't get past about 1/2 mile without pain, which would linger for hours afterward. It was so frustrating that 3 months post injury, I wasn't getting anywhere (well, I wasn't running anywhere at least!).

So, I went to an orthopedist who gave me a couple anti-inflammatory injections into my knees, which I was totatlly skeptical of and was pretty certain that they would be useless. However, I tried out running a mile a few days later and would you believe it, no pain! It actually felt good to run and I felt like I could've kept going for miles. I was a good patient and stopped after a mile though and iced/foam rolled. YES! So I'm going to very gradually increase milage and frequency and take it from there, but it finally looks like I've turned the corner on this injury.

I started having fantasies about doing the Country Music Half right away, but after some rational thought, I realized that's probably not the best plan. The last thing I want to do is re-injure myself so I'm going to take it slooooow. Plus, I found my distance race to aim for (as long as all goes well!).

Presenting: the Crossroads 17.75k! It's an 11 miler just outside DC (where I will be for the summer! woohoo!! More on that later) and isn't until June so it gives me a whole lot more time. I'm hoping to squeeze in a few 5 and 10ks before then, which I'll plan as I progress. All in all, it feels so good to be running again. My last run on Wednesday, I did 1.25 miles felt so good that my legs really just wanted to open up and run instead of the slow pace I'm keeping so I allowed myself a 30 second sprint at the end which was so fun. I'm thrilled. :)

Alright, I'm need to make myself some lunch. Last night I made a batch of Baked Sesame Ginger Tofu (I halved it though) which looks delish and I think I'll just throw some broccoli in the oven to roast.

updated for picture. mmmm:


Speaking of food btw, I want to make these Chickpea Blondies this weekend from Carrots 'N' Cake (a favorite blog of mine). They look so different and tasty. Yum. Hurray for the weekend!